The Taínos came from South America and inhabited the Caribbean islands.Prior
to them other groups had inhabited the islands; the Arcaicos and
Araucos.
The Arcaicos might have come from North America in the year 40 A.D.
The second wave came from South America, near the Orinoco River and were
the Araucos, around the year 370 A.D. Clashes between the Araucos
and the Arcaicos might have ocurred in the area of the Virgin Islands
and Puerto Rico. Between the VII and XI centuries the cultural phase known
as the Pre-Taíno developed and later the Taínos flourished
around the XIII century centralized in Puerto Rico.The third wave, the
Caribs, came also from South America, around 1400 A.D.They extended from
the island of Tobago to the island of Vieques and were fighting the Taínos
in their efforts to go farther north at the time of the arrival of the
Spaniards in 1493. At that time there were approximately 70-100 thousand
indians in Boriken.The supreme cacique was Agueybana, residing in
Guainía(now
Guanica), in the Southwest.They called the island
Borikén
which meant "the great land of the valiant and noble Lord."

The taínos were bronze-colored, median in stature and had dark,
flowing, coarse hair.They had dark,large eyes, slightly obliqued. Males
and single women were naked while married women wore a cotton skirt caled
a nagua.

The Taínos were divided in three social classes: the naborias
or workers, the nitaínos or chiefs and noblemen and the bohiques
or priests and medicine men.The cacique or guare was the
chief of a yucayeque or village.The caciques were under one
supreme chief who at the time of the discovery lived in the Southwest of
the island.

The Taínos lived in a defined place and in groups.The central
plaza of the yucayeques was the batey where the areytos
and
the ball games were performed. The caciques house or caney
was
in front of the caney and the bujius of the nitaínos
and
naborias
were around. The caney was rectangular and larger while the bujíus
were smaller and circular in shape.

The furniture were sparse- jamacas or hammocks, seats used by
the chiefs, the dujos beds made of cane and called coy.

The taínos fished and hunted but their ocupation was mainly agriculture.They
had plantations near to the villages, called conucos.

They cultivated the yuca, aje(batata), maisis(corn),
maní(peanuts), tabaco, yayama(pineapple). Cotton
was abundant. From the yuca they made a bread called casabe
and by fermenting it they obtained an intoxicating brew, the uiku.

The Taínos believed in two spirits or Gods:Yukiyú(Yocahu),
god of good and Juracán, god of evil.Yukiyú
lived in a mountain in the northeast, (now El Yunque) and Juracán
in Sibuqueira(Guadalupe), the land of its enemies, the Caribs. Juracán
was
responsible for storms, earthquakes and bad crops; Yocahu was an
inmortal being with no beginning..

The main entertainments of the Taínos were the dance, music and
ballgames. The ball games were played in the bateyes or in big ceremonial
centers lined with monoliths such as the ones in Caguana(Utuado) and Tibes.They
enjoyed dances(araguaco). To accompany their dances and areytos
they had instruments such as maracas, güiro and flutes
made from cane or bones.The areytos were important happenings in
the life of the yucayeque. Through them the history of the village
and its heroes was preserved.

The Taínos believed in in life after death and they buried their
dead carefully placing food and water in the tombs so the spirit could
use it in its journey.They would place in the tomb the cemi of the
dead.The dead would be placed in a position with the knees at the level
of the chest and the head in between.The caciques were buried with
their possesions and treasures.

The number of Taíno words that persist in the vocabulary of the
Puerto Rican people is extensive. Names of plants, trees and fruits include
the maní, leren, ají, yuca, mamey, pajuil, pitajaya,cupey,
tabonuco and ceiba. Names of fish,animals and birds include
the mucaro, guaraguao, iguana, cobo, carey, jicotea, guabina, manati,
buruquena and juey.Other objects and instruments include the
güiro,
bohío, batey, caney, hamaca, nasa, petate, coy, barbacoa,
batea,, cabuya, casabe and canoa.

The Spaniards treated severely the indian population, forcing their
work in mines and construction as well as in agriculture.They did not address
the rights of that race that was the owner of their land and that so cordially
had received them.Despite their eventual rebellion against the Spaniards
the dissapearance of the Taínos turned out to be extreme and fast.
Unused to slave labor conditions and exposed for the first time to European
diseases for which they had no immunity, the Taíno population was
rapidly decimated. By the late 1500's the Indian population as an ethnic
group had disappeared although with extensive intermarriage with the Spanish
and African populations the Taino became a permanent part of the island's
racial heritage.